Debate ‘suffering’ Ghanaians on the economy– Bawumia tells Mahama

The running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has advised President John Mahama to go and debate ordinary Ghanaians who have become “victims of his incompetent governance”.

According to the Dr Bawumai, the living and working conditions of Ghanaians have worsened over the last eight years, saying they deserve a debate with their President instead of Nana Addo.

He noted President Mahama must start responding to the 170 facts he presented in his last lecture on the State of the Ghanaian economy, which the government has still not responded to despite promising to do so on various occasions.

Speaking in Sangban in the Tatale-Sanguli Constituency of the Northern region on Friday, Dr. Bawumia said, “the President says he likes evidence, the evidence however shows that since 2000 his tenure as President from 2012 to 2016, he has been the worst performing President in terms of Ghana’s economy, that is the evidence, as I showed in my recent lecture”.

Dr. Bawumia advised the President to try debating the people of Ghana in various sectors as the people are in the best position to tell him how his governance has impacted on their lives.

“Today John Mahama says he wants a debate on the economy. Now I want to challenge him to come to Sangban and debate with the people of Sangban on the economy; he should tell the people of Sangban, what he has done for them in the last 8 years – 4 years as Vice-President and 4 years as President. He should tell the people of Northern Ghana what he did with the SADA money; he should go and debate with businesses that have collapsed because of Dumsor; he should debate with farmers who cannot buy fertilizers because of his policies. He should go and debate with businessmen who cannot access loans because of high interest rates”, he stated.

The rally attracted people from all walks of life

Dr. Bawumia further challenged the President to rather ask for debates with Teacher and Nursing Trainees, the millions of unemployed youth and cocoa farmers.

“He should debate with Teacher Trainees who are not paid allowances because his government has refused to pay their allowances. He should go and debate Nursing Trainees. He should debate the unemployed; our youth who cannot find jobs because the economy under him is collapsing. He should go and debate cocoa farmers whose farms are collapsing because of the collapse of the mass cocoa spraying programme. He should certainly debate with people who cannot afford to pay electricity bills or water bills”, he added.

Touching on the failure of the government to respond to his September 8 Lecture on the State of the Ghanaian Economy, Dr. Bawumia observed that the government has not been able to respond to that lecture because they cannot stand the truth.

“The President should go and debate with the people of Ghana who are suffering. That is where the real debate is. When I presented my last lecture on the economy, I presented facts and figures. I made 170 statements at least in that lecture. Now instead of responding to that lecture, he and his vice-president are running away from those facts. If they want a debate on the economy, they should start with responding to those 170 facts in my lecture. They don’t want to because they cannot. They cannot stand the truth, they cannot stand the facts”, he noted.

Speaking later at Kpalbutab, also in the Tatale-Sanguli Constituency, Dr. Bawumia said Ghanaians will also be interested in a debate between the President and beneficiaries of “scandalous Judgment debts” like Alfred Woyome. Again, he noted that the President should as well debate former GYEEDA and SADA bosses who presided over the loot of Ghana’s resources as these debates will help the populace know when the looted monies will be returned.